ON THIS DAY - 10 October 1588
- thedudleywomen
- Oct 10, 2024
- 2 min read
On This Day (10 Oct) 1588, the funeral was held for Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, at St Mary's Church, Warwick.
Robert Dudley had died unexpectedly on 04 September 1588 at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, whilst journeying north to the Midlands, accompanied by his wife Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester.
Following his death, his body was moved to his Warwickshire base of Kenilworth Castle. Despite his request in his will for his funeral to "be done with as little pomp or vain expense", on 09 Oct 1588, a 400-strong procession set off from Kenilworth, including many male members of Dudley's household, members of the local nobility, and 100 members of the lower-class and poor. The procession headed the 6 miles south to St Mary's Church, located in the north of the city of Warwick.
After being received by the church's clergy, and lying in the church overnight, Robert's funeral was undertaken the following day, 10 Oct 1588, where Robert's stepson, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, acted as Chief Mourner.
Following the 'pompous' funeral, which reportedly cost in excess of £3000, Lettice commissioned for an elaborate tomb to be erected on the east wall of the Chapel of Our Lady, known as the Beauchamp Chapel, in which she dedicated to the "best and dearest of husbands".
The Dudleys young son Robert, Lord Denbigh had been buried in the same chapel following his death in 1584, and Robert's brother Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, was later buried close to his younger sibling following his death in January 1590. Lettice outlived Robert for over another 4 decades; following her death in Dec 1534, she was buried alongside her second husband Robert, where effigies of the couple, lying side-by-side still stand on their tombs.
Lettice died in 1634.